Reversing apparatus for heating-furnaces



V. E. EDWARDS.

REVEBSING APPARATUS FOR HEATING FURNACES.

" 1 APPLICATION FILED JUNE 7. 19:3.

1,367,657.; Patented Feb. 8,1921.

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Patented Feb. 8, 1921.

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v. E. EDWARDS. REVERSING APPARATUS FOR HERTING F UBNACES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 7, 19l8- 1,367,657. WM Feb. 8, 1921.

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VICTOR n. RnwAnns, or WGRCESTEB,MASSACHUSETTS, AssreNOR TO MORGAN Cons'rRUCrion COMPANY, OF WORCESTER, IaAssACnosnrrs, A CORPORATION or MAssAcHUsErrs.

REVERSING APPARATUS FOR HEATING-FURNACES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 8, 1921.

Application filed June 7 1918. Serial No. 238,800.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VICTOR E. EnwAnos, a citizen of the United States, residing at Worcester, in the county of lVorcester and Commonwealth of lllassachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Reversing Apparatus for Heating-Furnaces, of which the following, together with the ac companying drawings, is a specification.

The present invention relates to mechanism for reversing the flow of gases through a heating furnace. The invention is par ticularly concerned with the provision of mechanism for operating a so called reversing valve of the, rotary type, known as a Dyblie valve, the general construction of which is set forth and described in United States Letterslatent to Dyblie, No. 591,251, dated January 14, 1902.

Such a valve as disclosed in said Letters Patent comprises generally a rotary struc ture having suit-able interior partitions and disposed. in Operative relation to the terminals of a plurality of furnace flues. In one position of said valve the combustion gases pass in one direction through the furnace, and when the valve is moved into its other position, the path of said gases through the furnace is reversed.

Such a valve provides a water seal skirt which projects at all times into a water trouga provided by the supporting casting or seat, to prevent the escape of gaseous products from beneath the valve, lVhen the valve is operated, to reverse the flow of the gases, it must first be lifted from its seat, as a preliminary to its rotation into the other position. Then, when it reacl es the other position after a predetermined rotation, it must be lowered onto its seat; during all these movements the water seal must be maintained, and furthermore, the entire reversing operation must take place with the least possible lapse of time.

The present invention aims to provide a simple and eflicient mechanism for operating such a valve, adapted to impart thereto the three distinct and independent movements above described with the least possible strain on the supporting devices, and with a minimum lapse of time. The above objects, as well as others, which will be pointed out hereinafter, are attained by the mechanism set forth in the following description, reference being had in this connection to i the accompanying drawings wherein- Figure 1 is a side view of the apparatus embodying my invention, shown in connection with a rotating or oscillating reversin W a valve of theDyblie type.

l?1g. 2 is atop plan view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1.

F g. 3 is an end view thereof.

Fig. at 18 a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of the Operating mechanism.

l 1g. 5 is a detached view in side elevation of a swinging arm used in procuring the rotation of the valve.

'Like reference characters refer to like parts in the different figures.

In the drawing a rotary reversing valve of the Dyblie type is shown conventionally, and is indicated by the numeral 1, said valve cooperating with the usual circular, seat or support 2, which comprises a spider casting or the like, not shown, defining the terminals of three or four flues. The seat or base 2 provides the usual circular water seal trough, not shown, with which the edge of the valve cooperates to prevent the escape of gases. Above thevalve is disposed a supportingframework for the valve operating mechanism, said framework consisting, as here shown, of uprights 3, 3,. and horizontal members l, 4, the latter support ing an electric motor 5 which is employed to operate the valve. The shaft of said motor carries a pinion 6 which is constantly in mesh with a gear 7 on a main driving shaft 8, the latter being suitably journaled in bearings provided by fixed members 9, 9,

carried by horizontal beams 10, 10, of the framework; The motor 5 is adapted to rotatem either directmn for a predetermined number of revolutions, and then to stop;

suitable switches and automatic devices for accomplishing this operation of the motor are indicated generally by the numeral 11, but as these devices form no part of the present invention a detailed description thereof will be unnecessary, since they are well known in the art. I

Projecting upwardly from the center of the valve 1 is a stem 12, by means of which the valve is lifted and lowered before and after its turning movement. The stem 12 is operated upon by a lever 14, fulcrumed at 15, and acting through a pair of links 13, 13, upon a collar 13 which thrusts against a collar 1a on the stem 12. The lever 14 on the other side of its fulcrum carrise a roller 16 which makes contact with a cam 17 carried by the shaft 8. The lever 14: is extended past the shaft 8 to a point beyond the fixed framework, and on its extreme end carries a counterweight 18, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The automatic switches 11 are arranged. to operate so as to effect a single rotation of the shaft 8 each time the motor is started. The cam 17 on shaft 8 will thus at the beginning of this rotation raise the valve 1 to a predetermined. height by depressing the lever 14 from the position shown in Fig. 1; the valve ,1 will be maintained at this height by the cam until near the end of the single rotation of the shaft, whereupon it will be lowered as the low part of the cam again comes into contact with the roller 16.

l ihile the valve is hold elevated by the cam 17, its rotation, to effect the reversal of the gases through the furnace,takes place. To this end the shaft 8 carries a disk or plate lii'which has journaled on its face near the outer edge thereof a roller 20. The roller 20 is adapted to cooperate with a swinging arm 21 which is hung from a shaft 22 having hearings in the upper extended portions of the fixed members 9, 9. The inner face of the arm 21, with which the roller 20 cooperates, is shown in Fig. 5 as provided with spaced projections 23, 23, forming between them a slot or guideway for said roller, the entrance to said guideway 24 being defined by curved shoes 25, 25. The plate 19 on its opposing face has an upstanding segmental rim or flange 26 which terminates some distance short of the roller 20, with the two ends thereof equally spaced from said roller. Each projection 23 of the arm 21 has a cutaway portion 27 therein of the proper width and radius to receive the flange 26 of the disk 19, when the latter stands in either the position shown in Fig. 1 or in the position 360 removed therefrom, as will hereinafter be described.

It will thus be seen that the rotation of the disk 19 is adapted to rock the arm 21, by the engagement of roller 20 with the shoes 25 and guideway 24: of said arm. The free end of arm 21 is connected by a link 28 with a radial arm 29 projecting outwardly from the center of the valve. This connection is by means of universal joints 3G and 31, to compensate for the raising and lowering of the valve before and after the rocking of arm 21.

The operation of the mechanism is as follows :Fig. 1 illustrates one position of the valve and its associated parts, said valve being seated in operative position, and the shaft 8 being stationary in the illustrated position of the cam 17 and roller 20. It being desired to shift the valve to its other position, so as to obtain a reversal of the gases through the furnace, the motor 5 is started up to rotate the shaft 8 through a single revolution. At the beginning of this rotation, the cam 17 becomes active immediately to depress the lever 14:, and thereby to elevate the valve 1. The roller 20, however, moving in a clockwise direction toward the guideway 24 does not become active upon the arm 21 immediately, but its action is delayed until the lifting movement is completed. During this initial movement the arm 21 is held stationary by the engagement of the flange 26 with the segmental cutaway portion 27 of one of the projections 23. Finally, just as the flange 26 moves out of said cutaway portion 2?, the roller 20 engages the corresponding shoe 25 and enters the guideway 24. The elevation of the valve being completed, the roller 16 rideson the raised portion of cam 17, and'the continued rotation of the shaft 8 causes the roller 20 to rock the arm 21, and thus to move the valve over the desired arc; At the end of this movement, which is some time before the roller 20 returns to its original position, the

other end of the flange 26 enters the other cutaway portion 27 on the opposite side of the arm 21, and thus brings the said arm and valve to a complete stop, in the proper position, and there holds it against further movement due to the momentum of the valve. At the same time the roller 20 emerges from the guideway 24: and its return to the position shown in Fig. 1 is accompanied by the passing of roller 16 onto the low portion of cam 17, thus to lower the valve onto its seat. i

To prevent the twisting or distortion of the mechanism, the collar 13 carries an arm 32 which enters between a pair of fixed stops During the lifting and lowering of the valve, these steps remain operative upon the arm, so that the turning of the spindle 12 can be accomplished independently, and without any tendency to impose a strain on the lever 14 and links 13.

I claim,

1. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with a rotary reversing valve for cooperation with a set of furnace fines, of a pivoted arm connected to said valve, a rotary member adapted to cooperate with said arm to swing the same, whereby to rotate said valve, and means operable during a portion of the rotation of said rotary member for locking said arm against movement.

2. In apparatus. of the class described, the combination with a rotary reversing valve for cooperation with a set of furnace flues, of a pivoted arm connected to said valve, a rotary member adapted to cooperate with said arm to swing the same, whereby to rotate said valve, and means carried by said rotary member for locking said arm against movement at the beginning and the end of the reversing movement of the valve.

3. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with a rotary reversing valve for cooperation with a set of furnace fines, of a pivoted arm connected to said valve, a rotary member adapted to cooperate with said arm to swing the same, whereby to rotate said valve, and means carried by said rotary member and cooperating with said arm for locking said arm against movement at the beginning and the end of the reversing movement of the valve.

4 In apparatus of the class described,

the combination with a rotary reversing valve for cooperation with a set of furnace fines, of a pivoted arm connected to said valve, a rotary member operable to raise and lower said valve at the beginning and end respectively of its reversing movement, means carried by said member for swinging said arm, whereby to rotate said valve, and means carried by said member for locking said arm against movement during the rais ing and lowering of said valve.

Dated this third day of June, 1918.

VICTOR E. EDWARDS.

lVitnesses THos. S. BLOCKER, C. BRUCE EARNEST. 

